She laughed. Wild laughter that cut loose from inner moorings, escaping to outside. It must have. Because the man turned, looked face into her face, intent, piercing, and said it like an accusation: “She laughed.”
Fearsome, somehow, that accusation. And so, reflexively she denied. No! She had not laughed!
But she had. Inside at least she had laughed—and laughed. Crazy laughter, cynicism-tinged, whose bitter edge the years of blundering, wandering, slave acquiring had produced. The Seed of Abram, of Abraham, the angel had said. Abraham, not Sarah.* And so, her hope expiring over time, she’d relinquished the motherhood right, to slave so undeserving, only to bear reproach on its account.*
But now, now, this One was saying, no, it would be she, the daughter of Shem’s Promise line, to bear the son, the seed in whom all nations would be blessed!*
The very thought! That this bent body, withered womb, could produce a baby, fresh alive, all new with hope—old hope.
Yes, old hope. Hope passed down from Eve, from Adam. Hope that died a thousand deaths in floods of judgment, back in Noah’s time. Great-great-(nine-greats) Grandfather Noah. Himself a child with hope attached, promised in his father’s prophetic proclamation: “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD has cursed.”
But Lamach didn’t live to see it, died before (or in?) that flood, and left was Shem’s and Ham’s and Japheth’s lines, that’s all, and those last two cast in far-flung places (Gen 11:1,4,8), and Ham’s line cursed, to top it off.*
But Shem… Shem’s line. What did Father Noah say? “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem…” Not of Shem and Ham and Japheth. Of Shem (Gen 9:24-26).
And so of Abram, Abraham. And of her, Sarai, Sarah (Gen 11:10-11,26-29). Down that twisting genealogy to idol times and places, from which God had called them out, out into a desert, barren as her womb.
And here, in the barren desert, here from the barren womb, the place of greatest improbability—no, impossibility, a child was to come forth.
And so he did. Just as God said. Just when God said. And Sarah laughed again, again. So they named him Laughter. Isaac, Laughter.
And she laughed some more.
And God blessed her—and took her from the earth before time would reveal the disappointment: that this was not the One, not yet. Still not yet! No, just a very earthy man, who loved the earthy savors and would twist the promise of the LORD to mesh with them. But that’s another baby story…
[To read, hover your cursor:
Genesis 12:1-3; 15:1-6; 16:1-5;18:1-2,9-15; 21:1-3, 6-7.]
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Seeking the Christ Child (in the Old Testament):
In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I am searching for prophecies and foreshadowings of the Christ child, book by book. I plan to post (nearly) every weekday (leaving myself some margin) a short peek at some hint or promise of the coming baby who would make all the difference. Like the wise men, I’ll be Seeking the Christ Child, but in Old Testament promises and foreshadowings, and sharing what I find. I hope you’ll join me, because if it turns out as rewarding as the past spring’s pre-Easter explorations, this focus could make this one of the richest, most blessed Christmas seasons yet.
Previous posts in this series:
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Linked to…
Dear Sylvia,
What a dear dear person you are to reflect on my situation and give me such encouragement. I may hang on to your words many times during the coming days. For now, though, I want to tell you how fabulous your blog is! I am going to add your foreshadowings of the Christ Child to my daily readings. What you have here so far is so VERY rich.
I am a mother-baby nurse in a hospital. I mostly work with Level II babies. They need extra care. Having a whole month to read about babies in the Bible gives me goosebumps. Thank you for caring for me. Thank you for all the preparation you are going to do so I can just read a synopsis.
Thank you, my Sister in Christ,
Dawn
Oh, Dawn,
How your comment touches and blesses me! Oh my! I wasn’t too sure how much this series would bless anybody! You have just encouraged me tremendously. I’ll be thinking of you in your nursing situation a lot as I write future posts. May God bring extra special blessing out of the trial you are going through.
Thank you, also, Sister.
Oh, this is beautiful. Thank you for giving us a fresh perspective on this scripture passage and for showing us, throughout biblical history, how His coming birth was waited and hoped for with great urgency and Glory. Your post helps me to prepare my heart for Christmas!
And thank you much, Mollie, for your gracious encouragement. That was my hope, that it would help with that focus during this busy and distracting time. God bless you richly this season.
Hi again Mollie,
I just hopped over to your blog and wow! Your post left me breathless! I tried to leave a comment there but was unable. So I’ll leave it here. I said:
This is just lovely! More than that. It feels so full of His Spirit. Thank you for this beautiful sharing of your morning and your heart.
Thank you so much Sylvia, that is so kind! happy to find you here!